Looms



Nov. 15, 1955 s, DONIGER 2,723,439

LOOMS Filed Sept. 1. 1954 IN VEN TOR.

JU/VDEI. D0/V/6E)? United States Patent LOOMS Sundel Doniger, New York,N. Y.

Application September 1, 1954, Serial No. 453,577 3 Claims. 01. 28,15

This invention relates to looms and, more particularly,

' to hand looms for fixedly carrying warp threads onto which are to bewoven weft threads together with beads or the like for the production ofbeaded belts and other similar articles.

An object of the invention, generally considered, is to provide asimple, cheap, and light loom, and yet one that is adequately sturdy anddurable, and one that may be supplied to the consumer in knocked-downcondition but very readily assembled and when desired returned to itsknocked-down condition.

Another object of the invention is to produce a loom formed of a minimumnumber of parts, and specifically formed with two alike end members anda single spacer bar.

A further specific object is to provide a spacer bar which is foldablelongitudinally'but which tends to expand laterally when applied to theend members and interlock therewith.

An important object of. the invention is to both provide shoulders onthe spacing bar for locating the end members with respect to said spacerbar and to provide means I on the spacer bar for engagement of the warpthreads.

Other objects and advantages and novel features of construction involvedin the invention will become apparent to persons skilled in the art towhich it appertains, as the description proceeds, both by directrecitation thereof and by implication from the context.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, in which like numerals ofreference indicate the same or similar parts throughout the severalviews;

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a loom embodying my invention and setup for use;

Figure 2 is a face view of the spacer bar, flattened out as it wouldnormally be received by the consumer, and partly broken away betweenends thereof;

Figure 3 is an elevational view of one of the headers or end members;

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view on line IVIV of Fig. 2, in thedirection of the arrows;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary exploded view, showing how an end of thespacer bar is inserted in, and removed from, the receiving aperture ofan end member;

Figure 6 is an end view of a header or end member, with the spacer barin position for insertion in or withdrawal from said end member; and

Figure 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6, but showing the relationship ofthe parts after the spacer bar has been opened or allowed to expand fromthe shut together condition of Figs. 5- and 6, to an angular form ordivergent condition to the maximum permitted by the header in which itis mounted and at which position it interlocks with said header.

In the specific embodiment of the invention illustrated in said drawing,the loom is shown as consisting of a frame having end members or headers11, connected in use to each end of a normally angular spacer bar 12.These end members or headers, when in use, normally stand in ver-2,723,439 Patented Nov. 15, 1955 tical planes parallel to one another,and the ends of the spacer bar pass through receiving apertures 13 insaid headers and interlock with respect thereto. The upper edge of eachheader is formed with a series of uniformly spaced notches 14 whichreceive and correspondingly space the warp threads 15 which are used tomake the beaded belts or other articles in conjunction with weft threads(not shown) woven as usual in hand looms.

Although the end members or headers 11 and spacer bar 12 may be formedas plain sheets of suitable material, such as cardboard, wood, plasticor metal, I desirably form the same of adequately rigid,self-supporting, combination of three plies of materials. In the presentembodiment of both said headers and said spacer bar, there is centersheet or ply 16 preferably formed of strong, light wood, with the grainrunning longitudinally, but may, however, be any other suitablerelatively strong material. Both faces of the center ply 16 are showncovered with a facing ply 17 of thin material such as strong cardboard,cloth or the like which is adhered throughout the faces of the centerply on which juxtaposed.

In the construction of the spacer bar, there are primarily two membersor leaves of duplicate configuration each with a longitudinal straightedge enabling said leaves to be hinged together thereat and to assume 'atroughlike relation in use. The center ply of each leaf accordingly isdiscontinuous from or non-integral with the other. Likewise, at one sideof the center ply, the facing ply thereat is individual to each leaf,but the facing ply at the other side is continuous across the saidstraight edges of the leaves and constitutes a hinge 19 for the same attheir longitudinal junction. In practice, the facing ply 17 common toboth leaves is applied and adhered while the leaves are in extended orflat relation and the ply 17 is both strong enough and resilient enoughto tend to keep the leaves flattened out, or substantially so, untilpositively folded and held folded toward each other from such flatrelationship. The thickness of the leaves is such that folding is onlypermissible with the integral facing ply 17 common to the two leavesswinging toward each other within the resultant trough.

In order to elfect interlocking and a relatively rigid connectionbetween the spacer bar 12 and the end members or headers 11, thereceiving apertures 13 of the headers, each desirably comprises arelatively large part 22, defined by inner side edges 23 divergingupwardly to and terminated by downwardly concave upper edges 24. Theseupper edges 24 extend toward each other and are interrupted byinterception with side edges of a slot 25 that extends upwardly fromsaid large part 22 of said aperture. Said slot 25 has a widthcorresponding with the double thickness (six plies) of materialpresented when the spacer bar 12 is bent or folded from the fiatcondition, illustrated in Fig. 2, to the doubled or collapsed positionrepresented in Figures 5 and 6.

The distance between the top of the slot 25 and the bottom of therelatively large portion 22 of aperture 13 corresponds with the heightof a hooked end portion 26 of the spacer bar 12. These hooked portions26 are each separated from a shoulder 27 transverse to the leaf, by anupwardly opening notch 28, the dimension of said notch in a directionlongitudinally of the leaf corresponding, with the thickness of a headerto which it is applied. The inward terminus of each said notch is at adistance from the hinging of the leaves substantially equal to theradial distance of the arcuate upper edges 24 of large opening 22 fromthe middle of the bottom of said opening, so that as the leaves areswung apart after entry into said opening, the said terminus of eachnotch will ride along said arc. At the same time, said shoulders 27 willswing along the adjacent face of the header, extending upwardly beyondsaid arcuate edges and therefore constituting abutments preventingdisplacement of the headers inwardly of the spacer bar under tensionsapplied by warp threads-15 when said threads are severally engaged underthe hook 26 as in the illustration of Fig. 1.

By virtue of the construction described, it will be clear that thespacer bar 12 may be folded together or collapsed, and then may beinserted in or withdrawn from the apertures .13 in the headers 11, asindicated by the position shown in Figures 5 and 6. However, when thespacer bar is opened or allowed to expand with the leaves diverging inthe angular position viewed in Figures 1 and 7, portions of the headers11 on both sides of the slots 25 are locked in the notches 28 of thespacer bar, so that the loom will stand in assembled condition andunintentional disengagement is prevented. Also when the warp threads 15are connected, as viewed in Fig. 1, their tension pulls the hooked ends26 of the spacer bar against the outer surfaces of the headers, andpushes said headers inwardly to cause the inner faces to engage theshoulders 27 on said spacer bar, so that a relatively rigid structure isproduced. This occurs even though the material from which made may berelatively light and thin. It will be appreciated that by virtue ofusing the spacer bar in the assembly with the leaves of said barangularly diverging, correspondingly greater rigidity is therebyprovided for the structure.

From the foregoing, it will be seen thatl have produced a light, cheap,rigid and readily knocked-down loom formed of only three parts. Althoughit will be noted that no adjustability as to length or breadth isdirectly provided in the three parts disclosed, yet diflerent lengthsmay be secured by substituting for spacer bars of one length anotherspacer bar of different length. Similarly adjustability as to width maybe obtained by substituting 4 for headers of one width other headers ofa different width. Furthermore, while only one form is illustrated,modifications may be made within the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A loom of the character described, comprising a pair of headers eachhaving openings therein, and a single spacer bar extending between saidheaders and having shoulders for engagement therewith, and said spacerbar having ends projectable through said openings of the header andengagcable with both the inside and the outside faces thereof with aninterlocking engagement therewith, and said spacer bar terminating withhook formation of said ends.

2. A loom of the character described, comprising a pair of headers eachhaving an opening therein, and a foldable spacer bar the ends whereofare insertable through said openings in folded condition of said spacerbar, and said openings being formed with slots admitting said endsthereat only when the spacer bar is folded and the headers therebypreventing withdrawal of the spacer bar from said openings while saidspacer bar is expanded from its completely folded condition.

3. A spacer bar for a hand loom, comprising a pair of leaves havinglongitudinal straight edges hinged together whereby said leaves may befolded fiatwise together and may also be spread apart into trough form,said leaves each having hooks at each end thereof and having abutmentshoulders inwardly of said hooks.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

